Two things to remember when watching movies: 1) NEVER go in with preconceived notions and 2) Once in awhile be ready for heart to beat out your mind on enjoying a piece of cinema.
Cameron Crowe is an amazing writer/director. For a generation, this films have touched on the feelings of hopeless romantics everywhere. His characters are charming, his dialogue winning, and his soundtracks are co-stars in the movie in which they inhabit. From “Say Anything” to “Singles,” “Jerry Maguire” to “Vanilla Sky” and now “Almost Famous” to “Elizabethtown.” Crowe’s films are a clearly stenciled path of an alternate reality where great music always plays at just the right moment and characters realize the potential in which they are always slightly missing achieving actually resides in their soul, yearning to be found.
“Elizabethtown” follows Drew Baylor played with quiet uneasiness by Orlando Bloom, as he is fired from his job, dumped by his girlfriend, and positioned for public failure akin to the creators of New Coke. As he prepares to commit suicide, his sister calls to inform him that his father has passed away. Thus Drew begins his trip to Elizabethtown, Kentucky to represent his west coast family for a southern memorial service rife with conflict. During the red-eye flight, Drew encounters Claire, an overly friendly stewardess who is eager to help him get through his troubling next few days. The two enter a quirky romance that hangs in the wings as Drew tries to understand who his father was and who he is going to become, all the while trying to navigate every family reunion landmine imaginable.
First, the gripes. Every critic that seems to think that they matter have attacked this film’s lack of realism and it’s cluttered nature of scene construction. The romance has been criticized as unbelievable and over the top while the ending seems to not fit with the rest of the film. Second, the middle of the film has been criticized for dragging down the rest of the movie and might even contribute to gripe number one. To this, I have only to say, “Shut up and watch, you heartless blowhard.”
This movie is not meant to be a linear story, but rather a film where an out of left field girl helps a depressed and confused boy deal with the greatest loss he can comprehend during his height of utmost failure. That’s the whole movie right there. Drew is a cipher for every twenty-something male lost at sea and misguided by the thought that being a success defines who you are. Claire is a fantasy woman, but she is meant to also be the light the end of a tunnel of self-discovery. When you’re ready to face what you’ve failed at, when you’re ready to actually love life despite the pitfalls, you’ll find a girl like Claire waiting for you. Losing your father can be very hard on a son. I dread the day when I might have to put my own to rest. There is no preparation for that and no amount of cynicism can curb the fact that it’s obvious Crowe is still trying to find the words to describe his loss. What he has attempted to do here is create a landscape for his own feelings to come out and talk about what he’s feeling. If you can empathisize with them and join in, maybe find a foothold with which to relate, then this film will make you feel full of life. If not, just try to enjoy an amazing soundtrack and some great scenes of the countryside that makes up this land of ours.
Favorite scenes?
The whole phone conversation between Drew and Claire that leads up to their watching the sunrise is one of the most modern romantic fantasies ever put to film.
Drew’s entire walk of shame and subsequent breakdown are very scarily sympathetic.
The end roadtrip is so well done, it tugs on every heart string until you’ve run the same gauntlets as Drew has.
“Elizabethtown” is not for everyone. I can think of at least three people off hand I would never recommend this movie to. It is still a great piece of film-making and should be seen by anyone who is ready to shut off their critical thinking and embrace what it feels like to go through every emotion of failure, loss, and discovery that we’re capable of.
